Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza has decided not to attend the summit between regional leaders on Thursday in Tanzania, stating that he will focus on the ongoing crisis in his country instead, his spokesperson said on Sunday.
"President Nkurunziza will not go to Dar es Salaam. He will be represented there by his foreign minister. He is campaigning (for elections) and decided to delegate his minister" Gervais Abahiro said to Agence France-Presse.
The president was set to meet with state leaders from Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya to discuss the continuing crisis in Burundi. The leaders were ready to formulate with solutions to the East African country, which has been marred with increasing unrest from its citizens.
The crisis in Burundi stemmed from Nkurunziza's bid to run for a third five-year term in office, a bid that has set off opposition and rights groups who claim that the president's attempt is a violation of the constitution and the terms of a peace deal that put an end to a 13-year-old civil war in 2006, according to a report from All Africa.
Despite the never-ending civil unrest happening in the Burundian capital, which has left 30 people dead, elections will still push through on June 5, with the presidential poll happening on June 26, according to the Daily Mail.
